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AFP
Yogyakarta
Sitting cross-legged, 68-year-old Supadmi fires an arrow across a field into a small stick target and sets a bell ringing, taking the lead in the game - an ancient form of Indonesian archery.
She was among sportsmen and women in colourful headdresses and sarongs who sent hundreds of arrows flying through the sky in unison at a recent tournament, in a festive atmosphere with blaring trumpets and tinkling percussion music.
This local archery known as 'jemparingan' has been played for centuries around the ancient kingdom of Yogyakarta, Java island's cultural heartland where Buddhist and Hindu temples sit amid bottle-green paddy fields.
After decades of decline, a revival is under way as a new generation of enthusiasts pick up bows and arrows for the first time, and elderly archers seek to pass their skills down to youngsters before they are lost forever.
"This sport is training for our character because we need to attain inner peace before we fire off the arrows," said 68-year-old Supadmi, who like many Indonesians goes by one name, explaining how the spiritual, ancient sport is seen as a workout for the soul as much as the body.
The love of archery has carried through to the modern era and it is one of the few disciplines where Indonesia has excelled in international competition - the country won its first ever Olympic medal in archery, a silver, at the Seoul Games in 1988.
But the popularity of jemparingan itself has been waning - it almost disappeared entirely in the 1990s after the death of one of its biggest backers, a Javanese nobleman named Duke Paku Alam VIII.
Now there are signs that its fortunes may be picking up again. A large number of archers, 140, took part at the recent Yogyakarta tournament, which was also attend by legions of spectators.
At the palace of the sultan in Yogyakarta, a new jemparingan group was formed two years ago that plays in the original royal style and usually meets every week.
Meanwhile in 2012 a new club was set up by archers in the city and nearby Solo, and the government has begun allocating funds to support the rejuvenation.
"The young generation is now our main target and the message we want to get across is that archery is a cool sport," said Agung Sumedi from Langenastro jemparingan club, which recently began training children under 10 years old.
